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Feather Star Squat Lobster

Allogalathea elegans

Photo by Eric Noora
Published on Project Noah
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13.685, 120.896

Field Notes

Description:

The body of A. elegans is 1.5–2 inches (38–51 mm) long, egg-shaped and striped. It is widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, where it lives among the tentacles of crinoids. The colour of the animals varies to match the species of crinoid with which it is commensal.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allogalathea

Notes:

A well camouflaged and tiny squat lobster on a feather star. Spotted in Secret Bay during a dusk/night dive. Depth of about 4m

Reference Links:

EOL: Allogalathea elegans, Allogalathea, Crab: Squat Lobster, Allogalathea elegans, on Crinoid (Crinoidea) - Kevin Lee&#…

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (19)
AshleyBradford
Very nice capture! I had to look hard to see the lobster. Great photos and sighting!
Carol Snow Milne
I never knew this existed. Thank you! Your photos are unique and special. :)
Eric Noora
Salamat alice and nath. Pag nandito kayo let me know. Sama kayo. Going to Apo Reef this January :-)
Atul
fantastic and congrats pal!
Eric Noora
Thanks Darwin26. Yup it was really hard. Didn't actually know what my dive master/spotter was showing me then until it moved. Guess we can play a spot the crab game here :-)
Darwin26
Hard to tell the crinoid from from the crab, the Wiki link helps.... Good Share,
peter
Spotting of the Day! "Squat lobsters are actually crabs with long lobster-like arms. They are usually found among feather stars (crinoids), camouflaged by closely matching the color of their hosts." http://facebook.com/projectnoah/posts/114414332006543 http://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/138326321502760960

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Global Coral Reef Monitoring

Tags

Photographed
PublishedNovember 19, 2011

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